Why is Viola Davis in the supporting actress category?

With the Oscars only a few short days away, they've been on my mind a lot recently. I've been thinking about who may win while trying to nail down some final predictions but the one thing that crossed my mind that has bothered me so much that I can't stop thinking about it is why the heck is Viola Davis in the supporting actress category and not the lead actress category.

"Category fraud" as it's been called isn't really anything new when it comes to the Academy Awards. There's been many cases of it before even as recent as last year. Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl and Rooney Mara in Carol were two examples last year of this. Both were questionably lead actresses in their movies but both were in the supporting actress category. Vikander ended up winning. After having recently watched Fences, Viola Davis was definitely the female lead and this definitely seems like one of the most egregious cases of category fraud. She actually won the Tony for lead actress in a play for the same role.The decision on what category an actor or actress gets placed in ultimately comes down to the producers and what category they will campaign for for their actors. In this case, Viola Davis was campaigned for supporting actress, most likely to increase her chances of winning. I don't agree with how that works. You shouldn't just be placed in one category or another to increase your chances of winning. It should come down to screen time and other related factors.

When I wrote about my Oscar nomination thoughts last month, I mentioned how I thought this category would be a close race between Davis, Michelle Williams, and Naomie Harris but really, Viola Davis winning in this category is one of the biggest locks of the Oscars this year. I would be incredibly shocked if she didn't win. I actually think she would still have a great shot of winning even if she was in the lead actress category. Best lead actress contenders Emma Stone and Natalie Portman should be relieved she's not competing with them. Plus, I'm sure Davis would much rather win the much more prestigious lead actress Oscar rather than the supporting one. On the flip side of that, I don't think it's fair to Michelle Williams and Naomie Harris who gave great performances in actual supporting roles that they have to compete with Davis.

This isn't the first case of "category fraud" and won't be the last and I wouldn't hold my breath for the Academy to make any changes any time soon. With everything being said, you can count on Viola Davis winning the Oscar for best supporting actress.